Johnny Dangerously

It's the 1930's and Johnny Kelly (Keaton) is a kind, happy, good-natured pet-shop owner. He talks to the animals, feeds them regularly, and tries to turn an honest dollar. One day, he catches a kid trying to steal a puppy (caught by the electronic tag Johnny had invented) and the kid is forced to sit and listen to Johnny's tale - a tale of crime, glamour, and adventure.....

Johnny's mother (Stapleton) is a typical irish washerwoman, who also happens to be a hypochondriac. She's always needing money to pay for the treatment she feels she needs and so, while his studious brother Tommy (Dunne) studies law, Johnny goes out to work. He gets caught up with local gang boss Jock Dundee (Boyle) when needing a few extra bucks for his mother. Tagging along on a raid on a rival casino, he manages to snatch the raid from the jaws of failure and turn it into a glorious success. His future is secured - but not as Johnny Kelly, under his new name - Johnny Dangerously!

Time progresses and whilst Johnny makes enemies, such as the slimy Danny Vermin (Piscopo), he also makes friends, especially Lil (Henner) a singer in Dundee's club who is curvier than a very, very curvy thing. Stars, flowers, rainbows, and soon they are married and living in magnificent splendour. Johnny always stays ahead of the law and his family - a task that becomes even harder when brother Tommy becomes District Attourney after turning in his boss in the DA's office (Devito) for fraud and embezzelment. Johnny can't let the family know what he does for a living - it would kill his mother.

When Jock Dundee is nearly killed by a booby-trap bomb in his toilet, Johnny takes over the gang, and tries hard to turn them all legit. But this is not enough for Danny Vermin, who shops Johnny to his brother, the DA and takes over the gang whilst Johnny is sent to death row, framed for murder.

Will Johnny escape in time to foil Danny Vermin's plot to kill Tommy and rule the city by fear? Only watching the end of the movie will tell!